Sara Gaiser

BREAKING: A judge refused to block a Kansas law that invalidates the driver’s licenses of transgender people and allows trans people to be sued for using public restrooms.

This isn't the final say, and we will keep fighting in court to stop this discriminatory law.

Trump pick for State Department drops out after drawing heat for comments about ‘white culture’ Jeremy Carl faced tough questions from lawmakers during a Senate confirmation hearing last month.

Trump pick for State Department drops out after drawing heat for comments about ‘white culture’

Democrats say White House offers no clarity on Iran war goals after 11 days Party members decry 'disturbing' lack of clarity following latest classified briefing on war justification and aims.

Party members decry 'disturbing' lack of clarity following latest classified briefing on war justification and aims.

A knock on the window and a glimpse of America’s surveillance future “This is taking a big and very scary step toward a kind of totalitarian checkpoint society,” a privacy advocate warns in a special France 24–Mother Jones report.

“They’re using facial recognition, every advanced tool that they have to try and identify protesters and squash what we’re doing.”

The DHS is using Mobile Fortify, an app that allows officers to photograph a person’s face and immediately query DHS databases for matches on protestors.

New Mexico prosecutors search Jeffrey Epstein's secluded former Zorro Ranch State investigators began searching a secluded ranch in New Mexico on Monday where financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein once entertained guests amid allegations that the property may have been u...

State investigators began searching a secluded ranch in New Mexico on Monday where financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein once entertained guests amid allegations that the property may have been used for sexual abuse and sex trafficking of young women.
https://to.pbs.org/3OTnx89

Human waste backing up in basements is a gut-churning sign of US infrastructure problems

The Trump administration has cut some funding for the needed work.

House Republicans prepare to sidestep Trump’s big 2026 demand GOP leaders are not leaping to take immediate action on a new version of the SAVE America Act.

House Republicans prepare to sidestep Trump’s big 2026 demand

West Virginia can ban Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming surgery, US court rules A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday upheld West Virginia's ban on Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming surgeries, the latest victory for Republican-led states seeking ​to curb the procedures amid an ongoing national battle over transgender rights.

West Virginia can ban Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming surgery, US court rules reut.rs/3NjnJgd

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(Guardian) — Iran has spurned two messages from Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, seeking a ceasefire as its leaders sense it is not losing the war and the US president is at the minimum feeling the political pressure.

@theguardian.com
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

San Diego County Supervisors Terra Lawson-Remer, left, and Paloma Aguirre, right, walk next to U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, center, after he was denied a visit to the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego on Feb. 20, 2026. Padilla's visit comes amid reports of inhumane conditions at the detention center following the Trump Administration’s surge of immigration enforcement efforts. Photo by Adriana Heldiz, CalMatters

San Diego County filed a lawsuit in federal court Tuesday alleging the Trump administration illegally blocked a public health inspection of the Otay Mesa Detention Center. bit.ly/4dgj0Xb

📸 Adriana Heldiz

Meeting post-9/11 military demands of US cost Europe the tanks it needs now, report argues New research shows NATO’s shift toward U.S.-style Middle East operations weakened Europe’s ground combat power.

Meeting the post-9/11 demands of a military focus on the Middle East has cost Europe the tanks and heavy artillery it needs now, a new U.S. Army War College paper argues.

From Stars' and Stripes John Vandiver:

Hereditary peers to lose their seats in the House of Lords Upper chamber accepts final draft of bill, which offers life peerages to some of those who would otherwise be removed Hereditary peerages will be abolished before the next king’s speech after a deal was struck granting life peerages to some Conservatives and cross-benchers losing their seats. On Tuesday evening the upper chamber accepted a final draft of the House of Lords (hereditary peers) bill, marking the end of its passage through parliament and clearing the way for it to be added to the statute book. Continue reading...

Hereditary peers to lose their seats in the House of Lords

State grant gives Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation chance to restore 175 acres of farmland

The grant marks a major turning point for the foundation, which will now be able to take on its largest singular project in its 37-year history.

State Department approves up to $40M to evacuate Americans from Mideast on charter flights The State Department has authorized the use of up to $40 million in emergency funds to pay for evacuation charter flights for Americans to leave the Middle East because of disruptions in transportatio...

The State Department has authorized the use of up to $40 million in emergency funds to pay for evacuation charter flights for Americans to leave the Middle East because of disruptions in transportation caused by the Iran war. https://to.pbs.org/4lpnVas

How UC Berkeley's veteran student newspaper covers the campus in turbulent times Daily Californian editor Ananya Rupanagunta has led the paper through a challenging year reporting on a university in Trump's crosshairs.

Daily Californian editor Ananya Rupanagunta has led the paper through a challenging year reporting on a university in Trump's crosshairs.

DOJ's Alex Pretti shooting probe excludes prosecutors who specialize in civil rights cases, sources say Rank-and-file career prosecutors in the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division cases are not involved in investigating Alex Pretti's shooting death by federal agents, CBS News has learned, in a st...

The rank-and-file career federal prosecutors at the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division who specialize in excessive force cases are not playing any role in the investigation into the shooting death of Alex Pretti by two federal agents

www.cbsnews.com/news/doj-civ...

Ohio judge orders Kalshi to follow state betting laws A federal judge in Ohio ruled Monday that prediction market platform Kalshi must adhere to state regulations on gambling. In denying Kalshi’s request for a preliminary injunction against state regu…

A federal judge in Ohio ruled that prediction market platform Kalshi must adhere to state regulations on gambling.

The Summer of Starvation: Amid Trump’s Foreign Aid Cuts, a Mother Struggles to Keep Her Sons Alive After the Trump administration cut off food from the third-largest refugee camp in the world, thousands of families faced impossible choices as their children starved.

The State Dept. painted humanitarian aid cuts as a necessary “disruption.”

For the World Food Program, that disruption meant telling 300,000 refugees half of them would receive a meager portion of rice, lentils and oil.

The rest would get nothing.

(Published Dec. 2025)

Exclusive: HSI, a branch of DHS that usually investigates drug cartels and human-trafficking networks, is probing the 2020 election results in Arizona, Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, Sarah Fitzpatrick, and Nick Miroff report: theatln.tc/yyuPzrHi

Welp. Today in embarrassing DOJ hearings ...

Does the Post have a history of (1) reporting on allegations of serious wrongdoing by a then-federal employee, yet (2) not naming the person accused because the Post has not "independently confirmed" the allegations, while nonetheless (3) allowing the unnamed person to deny the allegations?

DOJ says the judges — not internal friction or failed communication with ICE — are to blame for rulings that are exacerbating the strain. www.politico.com/news/2026/03...

NEW: Judges livid over Trump administration defiance are increasingly taking pains to say they still trust and respect rank and file lawyers who appear in their court rooms.

It's the DOJ and ICE leaders who they say are driving the rupture. www.politico.com/news/2026/03...

F.D.A. Opens Door to More Flavored E-Cigarettes

SCOOP: The FDA has said that it will consider authorizing e-cigarettes in flavors that appeal to adults -- coffees, teas, spices and mint. That would mean more authorized options beyond the illicit candy/fruity vapes.

Public health officials are not pleased.

www.nytimes.com/2026/03/09/h...

As War Comes to Gulf States, Migrant Workers Pay the Highest Price Since the American-Israeli attack on Iran began, at least 11 civilians have been killed in oil-rich Gulf countries. All but one of them were foreign nationals.

Since the American-Israeli attack on Iran began, at least 11 civilians have been killed in oil-rich Gulf countries. All but one of them were foreign nationals.

iPads in Kindergarten, YouTube on Breaks: The School Screen-Time Battle Mounting evidence shows that excessive computer use can harm children, so parents are cutting back at home. Now, the debate has shifted to the classroom.

Mounting evidence shows that excessive computer use can harm children, so parents are cutting back at home. But some families are encountering an unexpected challenge as they try to rein in screen time: their children’s schools.